The metal monster on my grandmother’s back porch moaned and groaned as it agitated and spit soapy water from its gaping mouth. Its twisted tongue sloshed back and forth squeaking with every turn, splattering soapy saliva down the sides of the machine and onto the floor. Swish, swish, spit, sputter, squeak. An attached appendage was ready to grab anything that got in its way and run it through the wringers – literally.
this old wringer washer has seen better days 
wash tub
It was wash day! That was an all-day event. The old wringer washer was ready for the day’s job. A wash tub full of fresh rinse water was bumped up next to the washer. Baskets of laundry were appropriately separated – whites, darks and linens. Washing powder was fed into the round belly of the beast already partially filled with water. Once it started twisting it didn’t take long for it to be a tub of bubbles. A load of laundry was added and soon the water was dingy looking.
The hungry rollers started turning, looking for something to devour. They grabbed a garment, squeezed it, and wrung out the soapy water. It didn’t take long to become experienced at flipping the sides of a shirt over the buttons as it went through the rollers. It didn’t take long to remember to zip pants before sending it through the machine either. When the clothing came out the other side of the wringers, it dropped in the washtub of clean water. The clean clothes were sloshed around by hand in the rinse water and soon the clothing was sent through the wringers again, flattened and dropped into a clothes basket.
With a basket of clean laundry and a bag of clothes pins, it was time to head to the drier. Yep – the clothesline. Some days, the clothes hung on the line blowing in the breeze. On hot humid days, the clothes hung lifeless. On cold wintery icy days, clothes hung frozen, as stiff as Frankenstein’s legs.
hot humid wash day in the South 
wash tub of dirty water – don’t throw the kid out with the wash water
(If you have trouble getting your whites whiter, just hang them on the clothesline on one of those icy days! Such a day acts as a natural bleach. The best night’s sleep comes on a breezy wash day. Have you ever slept on freshly air-dried sheets?)
cold wash day in the mountains 
warm breezy wash day on the prairie
Warning: DO NOT try to wash your arm! One day my sister tried out the wringer washer. She reached up to the rollers and the monster grabbed her arm and sucked it between the rollers. Her skin on that arm still sags a bit even today.